In the past, men and women have generally utilized hand held razors or electric shavers in an attempt to remove unwanted body hair and to obtain a clean, close shave. Single straight edged blades and single or double blade hand-held razors have been widely used for many years and generally provide a smooth, clean, and close shave. However, many men disfavor or in some instances completely avoid, straight edged blades or hand held razors since the blade must be applied directly to the face thus creating the risk of easily cutting the skin. Women, when shaving their legs, have also avoided straight edged blades or hand held razors due to the risk of painful nicks and cuts and the unsightly scabs and scars which may result therefrom. Additionally, many more women avoid using straight edged blades or hand held razors when shaving under their arms since the arched and curved anatomical configuration of the underarm makes it extremely difficult to obtain a close shave using a straight edged or hand held razor. Furthermore, using hand-held razors can be expensive because the blades wear out after repeated use and need to be replaced on a regular basis. Hand-held razors also require the use of shaving cremes, gels or lotions, which can be expensive, and are required to be applied to the skin before shaving in order to reduce the friction created by the blade which is drawn over the surface of the skin.
Many men and women use electric shavers instead of or in addition to hand-held razors. Unlike hand-held razors, electric shavers, for the most part, have eliminated the problem of cutting the skin since a blade never comes into direct contact with the user's skin. Electric shavers are generally of two types: rotary or grid. Rotary shavers generally comprise a hand-held body having a top portion which generally includes one or more circular heads having slits or holes therein. An electrically controlled rotatable blade or cutting device is usually disposed beneath the circular head. In current rotary shavers, the actual cutting area is a small percentage of the actual circular head. Electric grid shavers generally comprise a hand-held body with a fine metallic screen or grid covering on the shaving end which is applied to the user's skin. Unlike the circular heads of the electric rotary shaver, the grid of the conventional electric grid shaver comprises numerous small apertures into which the user's facial, leg or under arm hair protrude when the grid is applied to the respective body part and slid over the skin to be shaved. As with the rotary shaver, an electrically controlled blade of narrow area is positioned beneath the grid and cuts in a small area in relationship to the total head area.
When the circular heads or grid portion of the electric shavers are pressed against the user's skin, the hairs protrude into the slits or holes and are then cut or sheared by the blade or cutting service beneath the head or grid. However, since the blade is positioned within the circular head or grid and thus spaced at a head thickness distance away from the user's skin, electric shavers generally do not provide the desired smooth and close shave that most men and women desire. Lift and cut mechanisms have been utilized in some recently manufactured shavers to provide closer shaves. However, lift and cut shavers do not work efficiently with long and/or curly hairs and can cause discomfort to the user. The small slits or holes in the lift and cut shavers as well as in the circular heads or grids of conventional shavers often prevent the effective use of an electric shaver by one with long and/or curly facial, leg or underarm hair since the hairs have difficulty entering the holes. Additionally most electric shavers irritate the user's skin, often causing burns or rashes which can be extremely unpleasant. Furthermore, numerous African-American men are afflicted with a skin condition which almost completely prohibits them from using electric shavers at all.
Thus, there is a need for a shaving device which provides the clean, close shave of a razor blade with the safety of an electric shaver, and which is provided with a large, more efficient cutting surface area. Additionally, there is a need for a shaving device which does not cut or irritate the skin and which can be safely used by users with long or curly facial, leg or underarm hair. Furthermore, there is a need for a shaving device which is efficient, inexpensive and easy to use and clean.